WAR conducted an awareness-raising workshop with Stakeholders on 'Juvenile & Women Protection Laws & Behavior Change' Karachi Sindh.
1) UNDP – GEF SGP (Dec 2017 to Nov 2018): $30000
Establishing Renewable Energy Relief Station and Combating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)
Major Components & Impact:
- Increased community awareness, knowledge and agency on GBV, SRHR, pro-women and children laws.
- Mobilized community and changes patriarchal mindset of the community.
- Established a Renewable Energy Relief Station (RERS) for promotion of solar products etc. and to give a platform for community women and girls where they independently discussed their issues and provided legal aid and psycho-social counseling service in 4 referred SGBV cases.
- Installed Solar Panel Street Lights in darken area of Chashma Goth due to unavailability of light to prevent or reduce the high risk of kidnapping, harassment, sexual assault, dog biting etc incidents, particularly against vulnerable groups.
- Empowerment of women and girls in different ways to help them and their families to escape from poverty through distribution of Solar Lanterns and Energy efficient Portable Metallic Stoves in Chashma Goth area due to unavailability of light and Sui Gas in their Homes/Paras.
- Daily Kerosene Oil cost of Rs. 80-100 of per family reduced.
2) HRCP – ERT (Sep 2017 to Aug 2018): € 20,000
Survivors Support for Accessing to Justice
Major Components:
- Provided free legal aid and psycho-social counseling services to empower 35 survivors of SGBV including their families.
- Psycho-social counseling services also extended to around 150 family members of victims/survivors to empower them during rehabilitation and reintegration process.
- Helped victims/survivors with registration of the case with police, active liaison with the public prosecutors, taking survivors for medico-legal examinations and building pressure for arrest of the accused.
3) GIZ – CIS II (Sep 2017 to March 2018): PKR 2,400,000/-
Capacity Building of Sindh Police on Juvenile and Women Laws
Major Components & Impact:
- Developed training modules in Urdu and English on ‘Laws Protecting Juveniles, Women and Behavior Change’ – dealing with women and juveniles. On basis of these modules, conducted 6 Training of Trainers (ToTs) of police officers covering from all 29 districts of Sindh including Public Prosecutors. .
- 04 Awareness-raising Workshops were held, 01 each in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Karachi on ‘Laws Protecting Juveniles, Women and Behavior Change’.
- 2 flyers in Urdu & Sindhi on ‘Laws Protecting Juveniles, Women and Behavior Change’ including contact information of WAR for free rights-based services were published and widely disseminated.
- ToTs had great impact; Sexual Violence (SV) cases are not compoundable offences, however, in 04 SV cases, survivor’s family and accused were compromising (settling their matters outside court privately), police timely intervene and stopped out-of-court-settlements’.
- Networking strengthened; police and prosecution referred 12 SGBV cases to WAR for rights-based holistic services i.e. free legal aid, psycho-social counseling etc.
4) USAID (Feb 2016 to April 2017): PKR. 8108000/-
Provide safe haven to Gender-Based violence (GBV) survivors through institutionalizing 2 shelters home and facilitating women survivors’
Major Components:
- Establishment of Helpdesk operation in three major Public Hospitals to provide rights-based seamless services to survivors of GBV.
- Through Helpdesk, WAR facilitated more than 300 GBV survivors.
- Several Advocacy/lobbying and consultative meetings to improve the legislative and policy reforms for effectively responding to survivors of GBV.
- Development of training manual and building capacity for sustainable change on ‘Understanding on GBV and Referral Support’ with Medico-legal Officers (WMLOs) and other relevant stakeholders including govt. departments in Karachi and Hyderabad to improve the service provision.
- Awareness-raising and prevention on GBV through conducting sensitization sessions and community knowledge sessions at schools, Colleges, Universities and community respectively to spread awareness amongst community members, particularly youth, women and marginalized.
- Development and dissemination of Information Education Communication (IEC) material including flyers, posters and law books in Urdu & English with aim to sensitize relevant stakeholders including general population to create an enabling environment for women, children and marginalized.
5) MAMA CASH (Two Grants) (2014-2015 & 2015-2016): 1) €30,000 & 2) €28,000
Access to Justice Program
Major Components:
- Provided free Legal Aid & Psycho-social Counseling Services to Survivors of SGBV.
- Advocacy seminar on legal and medico-legal reforms to improve the service provision.
- Several awareness-raising sessions on prevention of sexual violence were conducted for youth in different schools of underprivileged areas of Karachi.
- Several community meetings were conducted in underprivileged areas of Karachi to orient women etc. regarding their rights, pro-women and children laws etc.
- Several meetings were conducted with police to strengthen networking and referral support for survivors of SGBV.
- WAR conducted capacity building of secondary care givers in different educational institutes with a view to identifying, preventing and responding to SGBV.
- Development and dissemination of fact sheets, newsletters and a booklet for parents and teachers to prevent child sexual abuse (CSA).
6) USAID (Nov 2012 to Sep 2013): $25000
Establishing Psycho-social and Legal Counseling Units in Private Shelters’ through Aurat Foundation’s Gender Equity Programme (GEP).
Major Components:
- Establishment of legal and psycho-social counseling units in private shelters i.e. Panah Shelter Home and Bint-e-Fatima Old Home Trust (BFOHT).
- Developed customized psycho-social plans for survivors residing in shelters.
- Need assessment of shelters and developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure swift and smooth process of service delivery.
- Legal & Psycho-social Counseling Manuals were developed in Urdu & English and disseminated amongst relevant stakeholders.
- Access to Justice (legal aid to survivors of SGBV in Panah Shelter Home & BFOHT)
- Various outreach and referral networking meetings held with police officials, public/private stakeholders with aim to establish a support mechanism for the survivors of SGBV.
7) European Union - EIDHER
Rape Survivors Support Programme (Jan 2009 to Dec 2011):
Major Components & Impact
- Litigation and counseling services provided to survivors of Sexual Violence (SV).
- 51 community meetings were held in all 18 Towns Administrations of Karachi to improve local responses to prevent SGBV.
- 3 advocacy seminars and various consultation meetings were held to improve the police, medico-legal and legal reforms dealing with victims of sexual violence.
- 5 Press briefing were held with media and at the Sindh High Court to highlight the data, WAR investigations findings, gaps in state’s services to demand state-sponsored rehabilitative support systems, and to recognize the brave struggle for justice of three survivors WAR was providing legal aid to, celebrate legal victories in their cases.
- A total 11 Capacity Building Workshops were held with lawyers, mainly public prosecutors, police and media on ‘Rape Case Litigation- Laws & Practice’, ‘Understanding on Rape’ and ‘Adoption of Best Practices to Reporting Sexual Violence Crimes’ to respectively sensitize aforementioned stakeholders for sustainable change.
- 13 workshops for teachers were held at different public and private schools across Karachi on how to identify, prevent and provide timely and appropriate response to prevent child sexual abuse.
- 9 Civil Society Referral Networking (CSRN) Meetings were conducted with relevant stakeholders in Karachi, Lahore & Islamabad with envisioned to facilitate the formation of a network of civil society organization working together to provide comprehensive support to survivors of rape and sexual assault through well-coordinated referrals, and advocated for best practices in relevant government departments.
- Researches on incest, rape and sexual violence including policy brief on Sexual Assault Documentation Protocols, Best Practices in Medico-legal Care for Survivors of Sexual Violence, 6 fact sheets on sexual violence, posters and other rape related material were published and widely disseminated to use for advocacy purposes.
- Final beneficiaries: 22, 3687 (11, 6343 women, 107,344 men)
- Target groups: 885 (687 women and 198 men)
8) ICCO (2003 to 2009)
Access to Justice/Legal Aid Project
Major Components & Impact
- Provided free legal aid, psycho-social counseling and other direct services including crises intervention during rehabilitation and reintegration process to empower more than 200 sexual violence victims/survivors.
- More than 1000 family members of victims/survivors were provided counseling services to empower them during rehabilitation process.
9) Global Fund for Women (2000-2013)
Access to Justice/Legal Aid Project
- Awareness-raising and Capacity Building for sensitization and prevention of sexual violence including Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
- Litigation and psycho-social counseling services for victims of rape & sexual assault